Baby Grace: Riley Sawyers is Missing; Where is She, What's Happened to Her?

A toddler disappears under mysterious circumstances and interest seems non-existent.

Why hasn't the disappearance of Riley Sawyers sparked any interest among the authorities?

We've wondered since learning of Riley Sawyers nearly a week ago: Why doesn't the strange circumstances surrounding her disappearance excite any interest? At first, we supposed that we weren't aware of the facts. But after doing some digging, we're not so sure of that theory anymore.

Just exactly has to happen to get authorities interested in this case once they learned that a toddler had disappeared scant miles away from where Baby Grace's body was found?

Maybe there is a secret investigation going on about which we could find no information.

Where is Riley Sawyers?

Two 1/2-year-old Riley Sawyers of Spring, Texas is missing. Gone. There is no Amber Alert for little Riley. No listing in the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children, nothing in the FBI Missing Person's Database on Riley Sawyers.

No one knows where Riley is, only Riley's mother and stepfather know how long she has been gone.

Riley may or may not be Baby Grace. Either way, she's missing.

Authorities in Galveston County Texas are methodically putting together the pieces of the puzzle to solve the mystery of who is Baby Grace. Her little body was found October 29th, wrapped in plastic and encased in a plastic tote resting on a sandbar just outside Galveston, Texas.

No one in the local area had reported a little girl missing that matched Baby Grace’s description. No abduction by stranger cases that the authorities could look into except for that of Madeleine McCann, a little girl abducted by a stranger or strangers almost 5000 miles from where Baby Grace was found.

“We do not believe she is from our area, because no one local has reported a missing child matching this description," Cindy said. "She could be from anywhere in the world. There are ships that pass through here, so she could be from anywhere." [1]

Madeleine was abducted from her family's resort apartment in Algarve, Portugal. Her parents had left the three year old with her two younger siblings alone while the parents dined with friends within walking distance of the children. The Galveston County Sheriff's Department and the FBI ruled out Madeleine as a possible match. There was no definitive reason given.

A composite sketch of Baby Grace was released with a plea from the authorities if anyone had information that would lead to the identification of Baby Grace to please contact them.

A new mystery emerged in the case of Baby Grace, that of Riley Sawyers. It seems Riley was the little girl that no one reported missing until a woman over 13oo miles away from Galveston in Mentor, Ohio, happened to hear the story and see the composite sketch of Baby Grace.

Sheryl Sawyers had known Riley since the day the little girl was born. Riley's mother Kim had lived with Riley's father, Robert, and Robert's mother, Sheryl Sawyers for two years until Robert and Kim broke up.

Kim fell in love with a man from Texas that she met online.

Last summer, 2 1/2 year old Riley Sawyers went missing in Texas. Sheryl Sawyers had been helping her son and his girlfriend, Kimberly, raise the child. Last summer, Kimberly suddenly moved the child to Spring, Texas.

Kimberly had apparently met a new lover on the internet as she played the game, "World of Warcraft". Royce Zigler convinced Kim to move to Texas with her child. [2]

Sawyers lost all contact with Riley.

Sawyers said she wasn’t able to contact the family for months and sent certified letters asking for custody hearings. In July, rumors circulated around the family’s hometown of Mentor, Ohio, that Sawyers had the girl.

That’s when Sawyers said she called Trenor’s new husband, asking where Riley was.

“I told him that all I want to know is where my granddaughter is,” she said. “He told me ‘We have the same questions.’” [3]

Where is Riley?

Sheryl's search for answers as to the health and welfare of Riley turned to dread when she read about the discovery of "Baby Grace."

When news of Galveston officers’ gruesome finding in October reached Ohio, Sawyers said she tried to call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to see whether a missing-person report had been filed in Spring. She claims dispatchers kept asking for a case number and then told her someone in Texas would have to file a report.

Once the sketch of Baby Grace broadcast, Sawyers called Galveston County.[4]

Riley's mother is contacted by the authorities about Riley's whereabouts.

Kimberly, 19, said she gave the child over to someone who claimed to be from family services from Ohio who showed her custody papers. Ohio Family Services said no one sent any papers or traveled to Texas.[4]

So far no word has come from the Harris County Sheriff's Department as to the whereabouts of Riley. No mention of whether Riley's mother has had to give a statement or take a lie detector test. The state of Ohio has said that no one has gone to Texas to take "custody" of Riley. If Riley's mother is telling the truth, then she handed her little daughter over to someone pretending to be a state official, this would mean Riley has been abducted by a stranger. Yet no missing person's report has been filed, no Amber Alert, no notification to the centers that handle missing children. Galveston County authorities have gotten DNA samples from Riley's mother and father in an attempt to match Riley to Baby Grace.What if Riley is Baby Grace?

There has no mention from the Galveston authorities and the FBI of Baby Grace's cause of death being homicide. Her autopsy revealed three skull fractures. If Riley is Baby Grace then the investigation will turn to Riley's mother and stepfather. Spring Texas is located 74 miles northeast of Galveston.

What if Riley isn't Baby Grace?

No one knows where Riley is. Riley's mother claims a stranger from the state of Ohio showed up with a piece of paper and made off with her. We haven't been able to find out what date this was supposed to of occurred. Riley could have been "missing" for months.

We couldn't find a missing person's report on Riley. We couldn't find her listed in the FBI missing person's file. An Amber Alert has not been issued.

We contacted the Harris County Sheriff's Department to find out if there were any ongoing investigations regarding Riley. We were given the phone numbers for Homicide and Child Abuse. When we asked for Missing Persons we were told that probably wouldn't apply but after a few moments of hesitation we were given the number.

Riley Sawyers is not where she's supposed to be and no kidnapping investigation that we could find has been undertaken by authorities.

Where is Riley Sawyers?

Why does this little girl's disappearance seem to excite no interest?

Our hearts go out to the Sawyers family. They wait to find out whether the DNA samples are a match or the realization that Riley is out there, somewhere. Just not where she is supposed to be.